SECTION 3:
PURCHASING LEVELS OF AUTHORITY

3.1
General: Competitive bidding is
the foundation of public purchasing in the State of West Virginia.

There are two (2)
levels of purchasing authority, depending upon the dollar value of the purchase:

(1) Agency
Delegated Acquisitions (performed by the state agency for procurements
$25,000 or less)

(2) Formal
Acquisitions (processed by the
Purchasing Division for procurements over $25,000).

State agencies
have a procurement officer who is responsible and knowledgeable in state
purchasing guidelines as well as their own agency procedures. All purchases must
be approved by the secretary or head of the spending unit, or a designee, whose
name shall be filed with the Director of Purchasing. The person(s) named should
take available purchasing training and have responsibility for the function of
purchasing. Each spending unit shall process all purchases through this
person(s), who shall be responsible for correspondence and communication with
the Purchasing Division. It is important to note that questions from agency
personnel relating to purchasing issues should be directed first
to the respective agency procurement officer rather than directly to the
Purchasing Division.

3.2 Agency
Delegated Acquisitions ($25,000 or Less):
The Purchasing Division has delegated purchasing authority to state agencies for
procurements estimated to cost $25,000 or less. No agency shall issue a series
of requisitions to circumvent this $25,000 threshold.

Amounts spent
with vendors are viewed comprehensively. State agencies should continuously
monitor their expenditures with vendors to ensure that the total amount spent
with a given vendor, in a year's time, does not exceed a bid threshold without
the proper level of documentation and bidding.

Agencies must
indicate “not to exceed” an amount of $25,000, which will allow the State
Auditor’s Office to determine if the involvement of the Purchasing Division and Attorney General’s
Office is required.

Purchases made
under Agency Delegated authority are processed at the agency level. Therefore,
requisitions, purchase orders or other documentation should be retained by the
agency and not forwarded to the Purchasing Division.

Agency
personnel are always encouraged to use West Virginia vendors for delegated
purchases. Utilizing our
resident vendors helps to strengthen our overall state economy. Refer to Vendor
Registration requirements in Section 5 for more information.

Commodities and
services that are expected to cost $2,500 or less require no bids;
however, competition is always encouraged.

For purchases
$2,500.01 to $5,000, three (3) verbal bids are required,
where possible, and
the lowest bid meeting specifications must be awarded the purchase
order/contract. All bids should be documented on a Verbal Bid Quotation
Summary (WV-49). A “no bid” is not considered a bid.

Purchases
$5,000.01 to $25,000 require three (3) written bids, where
possible, and the
lowest bid meeting specifications must be awarded the purchase order/contract. Agencies should use the Request for Quotation (WV-43)
to document those vendors solicited and their responses. Signed fax orelectronic bids are acceptable. A vendor choosing to submit a bid or a
written change to a bid by electronic transmission accepts full responsibility
for transmission and receipt of the bid or written change to a bid. The state
accepts no responsibility for the unsuccessful and/or incomplete transmission of
bids by electronic transmission. Bids submitted via facsimile may not be sealed
until receipt by the Purchasing Division. The Purchasing Division makes no
guarantee of confidentiality and accepts no responsibility for completeness of
bids or transmission.

A “no bid” is not
considered a bid. All efforts to obtain bids must be documented and maintained
in the file.

For technical
purchases, please refer to Section 4.6.1.4.

For more
information on agency delegated purchasing authority, see Section 6.

3.3 Formal
Acquisitions (Over $25,000): The Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration is
responsible for acquiring all commodities and services on behalf of the state.
Agencies under the executive branch of state government are required to process
purchases estimated to exceed $25,000 through the Purchasing Division, unless
statutorily exempt.

The Purchasing
Division has the authority to make, amend or repeal guidelines set forth to
comply with the established Code. The Purchasing Director may make specific
exemptions to these guidelines if particular purchases are determined to be in
the best interest of the State of West Virginia.

In addition, the
Purchasing Division has the responsibility for the standardization of
commodities and services purchased, and may adopt standard specifications to
apply in all purchases of a particular commodity or service.

Additional
information on formal procedures for purchases over $25,000 may be found in
Section 7.